This invention relates to a waste treatment system and more particularly to a system utilizing directed energy.
Glass melter technology has been used in waste treatment systems to put waste into a vitrified or glassified form that is highly stable and nonleachable. Such glass melter technology has played a crucial role in the treatment of radioactive waste. In the case of radioactive waste, by putting it into a vitrified form it may be safely isolated from the environment for very long periods of time. Radioactive waste that has been treated by glass melter technology includes material from the environmental clean up of Department of Energy facilities, and waste from nuclear power plants. Material from the dismantling of nuclear weapons can also be treated by glass melter technology. Present vitrification of radioactive waste is expensive, time consuming and very demanding in terms of safety requirements.
Present glass melter technology uses Joule (resistive) heating either from electrodes submerged in the waste material or by means of induced electrical currents. Conventional melters suffer shorter refractory life because of sidewall heating at the submerged electrodes. Electrodes also wear out and have to be replaced adding to the cost. A glass melter technology that does not require components to be submerged in the corrosive environment of the molten material will result in a cheaper, faster, more flexible and safer waste treatment system.